A linked love
by Fear the unicorn
Summary: Shikamaru and Ino get stuck fighting a jonin level ninja. The problem is that they can't take damage without the other being hurt. Mostly Shikamaru's view on protecting Ino. Rated M for language and a scene at the end. A shikaino one shot.


Shikamaru never thought that he would lose his cool in the middle of a fight. He also never thought he would be knocked out so quickly. He could predict dozens of moves and yet he couldn't realize the move right in front of him. More like the fist that smacked him and knocked him out. He was on a mission with Ino. They were supposed to track a group of spies and see what they were doing. Actually Ino was supposed to do it alone, but Shikamaru insisted that he should go along. The tracking didn't take too long but it was the returning of the mission that everything fell apart. Some weirdo with a mask attacked them. He mostly went after Ino, who had very low chakra left from the espionage. Then everything else went downhill. Shikamaru woke up in the same place with an insane headache. He looked around and saw neither the guy or Ino.

"Shit." He groaned. He saw a note through his blurred vision. He moved towards and groaned. It read, _If you want her, come and get her. The mountains whenever you wake up._

"Shit!" Shikamaru yelled again as he dashed for the mountains near him. It was hardly a mountain, just a big group of rocks. He spotted shining blonde hair dangling from a ledge. When he reached it he looked around. Ino was knocked out but other than that she seemed her fine.

"You took awhile." A voice echoed behind him.

"What do you want?" Shikamaru asked with his same bored tone.

"I want to fight you." the man shrugged

"So you had to knock me out and kidnap my friend to do that?" Shikamaru questioned

"I wanted you to fight with a motivation. Kidnapping her seemed pretty good." He shrugged

"Well I'm here now." Shikamaru groaned.

"I'm Riku by the way. You're Shikamaru Nara correct?" Riku asked

"The one and only. Can we hurry this up now." Shikamaru groaned . He looked worryingly at Ino and went back to glaring at Riku.

"Just one more thing." Riku says as he swiftly touched Shikamaru's neck. It left a searing rush of pain. Shikamaru clutched his neck and screamed.

"What the hell is that?" He demanded. Riku did the sane to Ino and she stirred uncomfortably.

"It's your blood and hers. I mixed them to use my charm. Any damage one of you takes affects the other. So if I were to," Riku explained and kicked Ino. Shikamaru felt a kick on his stomach. Riku smirked and went back.

"An act of selflessness is the only way to break the seal." Riku added

"Are you going to give me your all now?" He asked.

"You're gonna die." Shikamaru hissed. Riku laughed and moved to punch.

"You've got to be better than that." Shikamaru mocked as he dodged it. He landed a punch to Riku's jaw and elbowed his gut. Riku laughed and swept Shikamaru's legs from under him. Shikamaru stopped the fall to stop Ino from getting hurt.

"So you're trying to protect your little girlfriend." Riku mocked as he pulled a kunai, he sunk it into Shikamaru's shoulder. He winced but still shoved Riku off him. He saw blood coming from Ino's shoulder.

"What a drag." he said out loud. He saw a fireball coming for him and he ducked.

"What the hell!" He shouted

"I specialize in fire style jutsus." Riku explained as he launched another fireball at Shikamaru. He narrowly dodged it. In doing so he felt something fall from his shuriken pouch. He looked down and saw the little wooden charm Ino gave him befire the chūnin exam finals.

_"It's my good luck charm. You're going to need it." Ino smiled. It was a small wooden flower with purple ribbons strung through it._

_"I don't care about the exams." Shikamaru groaned_

_"Well I want you to do well. You're avenging Choji remember." Ino reminded_

_"I'll try but I doubt a little flower is going to help." Shikamaru rolled his eyes_

_"It will it's an iris. It means friendship, good fortune,and I have faith in you." Ino said fiercely_

_"Whatever you say." Shikamaru shrugged_

_"Promise to keep it with you forever. That way you'll always remember me."_

_"Trust me Ino there's no way I could forget you." Shikamaru reassured_

Shikamaru grabbed the charm and stuck it back in his pocket. He saw Ino flutter her eyelashes and squinted at him. Her eyes lit up as she sat up.

"Shikamaru!" She yelled.

"Well she's awake now." Riku groaned.

"Ino try to dodge is attacks. We both get hurt if one of us gets hurt." Shikamaru explained as he moved to be by her. She nodded and pulled out a kunai.

"What do we so now genius?" Ino asked

"He uses fire style jutsu. He seems pretty weak at taijutsu. Try to attack from a distance so you can dodge his attacks. I'm going to fight him up close." Shikamaru decided. Ino nodded and smiled.

"Be careful."Ino said.

"You too." Shikamaru nodded and ran towards Riku. Riku dodged Shikamaru, but Ino hurled her kunai at him and it lodged in his leg. He yelped in pain and pulled it out.

"Little bitch." He hissed. Shikamaru kicked his side and Riku stumbled back. He shot two fireballs, one at Ino and one at Shikamaru.

"Look out!" Shikamaru shouted at Ino as he dodged his fireball. Ino dodged hers but some of it burned part of her hair.

"You're in for it now." Shikamaru laughed at Riku.

"YOU BASTARD!" Ino screamed as she raced towards him.

"Shadow possession jutsu!" Shikamaru called as he used his was stuck and Ino's fist made a bone crunching impact on his ribs. He launched into a nearby rick and he screamed.

"Nice one Ino." Shikamaru said impressed, with a touch of fear. Ino cares about being a good shinobi, but she also cares about being an attractive person. For years she had been trying to make herself look better and when someone messed that up, they don't get to tell the tale.

"I know right!" Ino squealed. By this time Riku had regained his composure and was staring them down.

"Which one to attack first?" He questioned. He saw a shadow coming towards him and he put a rod on it.

"What?" Shikamaru gasped as he tried to pull his shadow back.

"That chakra blade keeps your shadow there while it drains your chakra. Pretty neat huh." Riku explained.

"Why you!" Shikamaru yelled as he struggled to stop his jutsu. Riku came at Ino put she dodged it and sprinted for the rod. She had her hand on it jut as Riku slammed into her and knocked her down. She grunted as she fought to get Riku off her.

"You need to diet." Ino spat as she reached her hand for the rod. That's when Riku seized her and threw her against a rock. Both she and Shikamaru winced wen she made contact.

"Ino!" Shikamaru shouted. She gave him a weak smile as she stood up.

"Alright mister you need to stop throwing girls around. That's extremely rude." She huffed.

"Maybe if you actually could fight," Riku started but was abruptly stopped by a kunai flying towards him. As he dodged it Ino finally reached the rod and picked it up. Shikamaru'a shadow was released.

"You really need to be aware of your surroundings." Ino sighed as she pretended to inspect her fingernail. Shikamaru cane up behind looking exhausted.

"Are you okay?" Ino asked

"That damn rod took away half my chakra." Shikamaru groaned. Ino held the rod triumphantly with a smirk on her face.

"You two are better than I thought." Riku mumbled. He had thia weird red glow around him and his expression changed. It wned from calm and relaxed to ferocious.

"This is bad." Shikamaru frowned.

"That's a big fireball." Ino whispered when she saw the fireball Riku was creating.

"Get down. NOW!" Shikamaru shouted as the ball hurled towards them. Shikamaru covered Ino's head with his arm as they hit the ground. The ball burst into dozens of small ones. One grazed Shikamaru's shoulder and both of them yelped.

"We got him really pissed off." Ino whimpered

"He's even worse than if you and Sakura get pissed together." Shikamaru whispered back. Once the fireballs had passed Shikamaru looked up and saw Riku racing towards them. He pushed Ino away and he rolled right out of range of Riku. Shikamaru cursed under his breath.

"What do we do now?" Ino cried.

"We wait until he's out if energy and then we attack I guess." Shikamaru suggested.

"That's going to take awhile." Ino observed.

"What other choice do as have?" Shikamaru questioned. Riku growled and charged for Ino. Before either could so anything he made inspect and Ino was sent flying into a rock. She landed with a sickening thud and Shikamaru coughed blood. He clutched his stomach and started crawling to her. He saw the fireball that Riku was creating and immediately knew Ino couldn't dodge it. She'd get hit and she was so vulneravke she would die. Shikamaru felt so hopeless that he couldn't help her. He didn't care, hf had to save her. He stood up and raced towards her he practically crashed onto her just a the fireball came.

"Shikamaru!" Ino screamed. He screamed when the fire hit him, but still forced a weak smile onto his face. Tears were streaming down her face as she cried out his name. She felt no pain in her back though.

"What?" She barely asked

"An act of selflessness will break the seal." Shikamaru coughed.

"Y-you saved me." She stuttered through the tears.

"I'd it again." Shikamaru grunted.

"Please tell me you're okay. Say it!" Ino demanded. Shikamaru rolled off her and was breathing deeply.

"I'm okay Ino." He stuttered. His eyes were barely open. Ino could see the fire hf burned through his flak jacket and his shirt onto his back. She couldn't see his back but she make out many blisters around the sides. His arms were covered in burn marks, he had completely shielded her body with his own.

"Tears don't suit you." Shikamaru said quietly. Ino kneeled beside him, tears dropping on him rapidly. She tried to smile, but couldn't muster the strength.

"I can heal you." Ino decided. Shikamaru grabbed her hand and pulled her down next to him so she could hear.

"Not yet. Kill him first. I know you can." He whispered. The fire came back in her eyes as she nodded. She stood up and her eyes were like daggers at Riku. She examined him and saw that strangely his hands didn't have the glow around them.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" She screamed as she pulled a kunai and raced towards him. She sunk a kunai in his left hand and dodged a punch from the other.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" She screeched as she tackled him. She seized his throat and pushed him down. She sunk another kunai into his leg. She got up and put another kunai in his other leg.

"Mind disturbance jutsu!" She yelled as she performed her jutsu. She had complete control over him now, and she wouldn't be affected by it.

"You're done for." She hissed. She plucked the kunais out and made Riku walk to the edge if the cliff. She made him plant the kunai in his neck and then jump off. Once she broke off the jutsu, she ran back to Shikamaru. She turned him over and cringed when she saw his back. It was scorched, blistered, cut, and bloody. She began her mystical palm technique.

"Come on Shika." She cried. The cuts and blisters were fading, but the burns remained.

"I wish Sakura was here. She could fix you in ten minutes." Ino sighed. She firced more chakra into her hands as she continued.

"Ino." Shikamaru moaned.

"Just shut up and sit still!" Ino barked. Her tears were falling onto the burns which only made them hurt worse. Shikamaru moaned again and swore under his breath.

"This is going to hurt." She warned.

"Can it get much worse?" Shikamaru groaned. Ino made one last surge of chakra and Shikamaru screamed. The burns were healing fast and the bleeding had stopped. Ino sighed a breath of relief. Her chakra was almost out so she had to stop. When Shikamaru turned over he was surprised by Ino wrapping her arms around his neck. She started sobbing into his shoulder.

"Ino can you stop crying. You're making me feel bad." Shikamaru teased. He still had lots if pain in his back but the pain had settled enough for him to move around.

"You almost died a few minutes ago!" Ino shot back.

"Well I didn't." Shikamaru reassured

"You risked your life to save me." Ino finally said once she calmed down.

"Of course I did."

"What do you mean by that?" Ino questioned

"Why else would I _volunteer _for a mission? Why would I follow you here wen it would be more logical for me to get help? Why would I have tried to protect you this whole fight? It's because I care about you, a lot. If anything happened to you I couldn't live with myself. Its my job to protect you with everything I've got. That's why I would take a fireball for you everyday of my life if it meant you'd be safe. " Shikamaru answered with a smile on his face.

"Really?" Ino asked gleefully.

"Really."

"Does your back hurt a lot?" Ino asked suddenly

"Not that bad I guess." He shrugged. Ino bit her lip and smiled.

"Pefect." she said slyly as she pulled Shikamaru on top of her. She crushed his lips to hers. His hands went onto her hips as she crashed his neck in a passionate kiss. She pulled the remaining bits of shirt off him. He softly moaned as she felt his toned chest. He pulled her blouse off and she kicked her sandals off. As did he. He started planting soft kisses down her neck, keeping one hand on the small of her back and the other behind her head. She moaned against his soft but firm touch. She took off her purple apron skirt leaving her black miniskirt and fishnets on. She licked his upper lip until he opened his mouth. The kiss intensified until someone shrieked. Shikamaru glared at the figure, their teammate Choji. Ino fluttered her eyelashes and turned a flushe pink hue.

"CHOJI!" Ino screeched.

"I was supposed to be backup. Well it looks like you have everything under control so," Choji stuttered

"GO AWAY!" Shikamaru yelled.

"You two are gross. I could expect this from Ino, but really Shikamaru." Choji groaned as he ran off.

"Way to ruin the moment." Ino pouted.

"That's our Choji." Shikamaru grumbled.

"I guess we're done." Ino sighed unhappily as she put her sandals back on.

"Damn fatso." Shikamaru groaned as he did the same. Once they were redressed they started back to the village. Choji glared at them went they came.

"You robbed me of my innocence." He groaned

"Well you robbed us of a quality make out session." Ino shot back

"You were doing more than making out." Choji chuckled. Shikabaru punched him over the head.

"Shikamaru why do you have lipstick on your chest?" Hinata asked as she walked by. The group burst into nervous laughter. Hinata eyed Ino and screamed as she fainted.

"She figured it out." Ino giggled.

"Shikamaru go put on a shirt." Choji ordered.

"I'll go too!" Ino cheered. Choji rolled his eyes at his two friends. Once they were out of earshot Ino asked

"Did you really mean it when you said you cared about me?"

"Yes and no." Shikamaru answered. Ino raised an eyebrow and motioned for him to continue.

"Yes I care about you. Yes everything I said was true. I just forgot to mention the troublesome detail that I love you." Shikamaru explained. Ino beamed and started dancing around him.

"I love you too." She whispered.

**Author's note: So this was my first(and probably only) attempt at writing an "M" story. Mostly for language and that kissing scene(my attempt at a sexy scene). I had to add Hinata's reaction because I needed some humor ;) ****hope you enjoyed reading. **

**Love ya' 3**


End file.
